St Pancras and Islington Cemetery is a cemetery in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It ...

, North

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Although it is situated in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London borough in North London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It forms part of Outer London and is the largest London borough ...

, it is run as two cemeteries, owned by two other London Boroughs, Camden (formerly St Pancras) and

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

. The fence along the boundary which runs west to east between the two parts of the cemetery has been removed, although the line of it is still marked. St Pancras and Islington is the third-largest single cemetery serving London, and in burial numbers, it is the largest in the UK with around one million interments and cremations. The cemetery is designated Grade II* on the

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The cemetery was the first publicly-owned cemetery in London.

Cemetery

Origin and development

St Pancras and Islington, located in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on high ground, north of Charing Cross. Nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, Mill Hill a ...

, is one of London's historically most interesting cemeteries. Following the Metropolitan Burials Act 1852 and later acts which were designed to alleviate serious health and other problems caused by overcrowded burial grounds and lack of management and accountability, the cemetery was established in 1854 as the first municipally owned cemetery in London when the St Pancras Burial Board bought of the former Horseshoe Farm on

Finchley Common Finchley Common was an area of land in Middlesex, north of London, and until 1816, the boundary between the parishes of Finchley, Friern Barnet and Hornsey. History Its use as a common is quite late. Rights to the common were claimed by the ...

. A further were acquired in 1877 and the total area was divided between Islington and Camden, the former having two areas to the north-west and east, the latter having the remainder. A bank and ditch along the eastern edge marks the parish boundary between

and

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

. The cemetery is bordered to the south by the

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

of Coldfall Wood, to the north by the

North Circular road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...

, and to the west by the A1000 Great North Road. The cemetery contains several chapels and a large crematorium built by Albert Freeman in 1937.

Chapels

The St Pancras

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

chapel (listed

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

) lies at the centre of the semicircular drive which links the entrance and exit to the cemetery, c 250m north-east of the entrance. It was built in 1853 by

John Barnett John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and William C. Birch in a cruciform design, with decorated windows in Gothic style and a central octagonal crossing tower and spire. It was used by both St Pancras and Islington until 1896, when the Islington chapel was built. The Nonconformist chapel was built in the early 1850s by Barnett and Birch and had a six-sided lantern. It was demolished in the 20th century. The St Pancras

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

chapel (1896; now demolished) lay on the north side of Roman Road (c 540m north-east of the Islington Anglican chapel), and was in a simple Gothic style. Many of the tombs in the Roman Catholic section are decorated with angels and there are several interesting tombs, including the Melesi Mausoleum of 1914, for an early victim of a car accident.

War graves

St Pancras Cemetery has a war graves plot containing over 100 graves from both world wars, together with a number of headstones retrieved from graves that were scattered elsewhere in the cemetery and could not be maintained. A memorial bears the names of 27 casualties whose graves could not be marked individually, and of six First World War casualties buried in the adjacent Islington Cemetery who could not be commemorated there. In total 299 First World War Commonwealth service casualtiesincluding one unidentified

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

sailorand 207 Second World War casualties are commemorated or buried here. The Victoria Cross recipient John Ross is buried here. Islington Cemetery contains the graves of 334 Commonwealth service personnel of the First and 265 of the Second World War, which are all scattered throughout the cemetery. A Screen Wall memorial in the western part of the cemetery lists names of those buried here whose graves could not be individually marked by headstones, together with those of two servicemen of the Second World War who were cremated at Islington Crematorium. Six soldiers buried in this cemetery whose graves could not be located are alternatively commemorated on stones in St Pancras Cemetery (above).

Mausoleums and memorials

The

listed Mond Mausoleum by Thomas Arthur Darcy Braddell is built in the Grecian style (based on the Temple of Nemesis) in granite and

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building ...

, with a pediment supported by two fluted Ionic columns. It was built for Ludwig Mond, a German-born

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through per ...

. There is a memorial for William French who died on 13 July 1896 while saving a dog from drowning in one of the Highgate Ponds in North London. The monument was paid for by public subscription.

Notable burials

* Henri d'Alcorn (born George Henry Stannard Allcorn), composer of 'La Varsoviana' (Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay), a variation on the

Varsovienne The varsovienne, also known as the varsouvienne or varsoviana, is a slow, graceful dance in time with an accented downbeat in alternate measures. It combines elements of the waltz, mazurka, and polka. The dance originated around 1850 in Warsaw ...

. * Valentine Bambrick, VC recipient. *

Mathilde Blind Mathilde Blind (born Mathilda Cohen; 21 March 1841 in Mannheim, Germany – 26 November 1896, in London), was a German-born English poet, fiction writer, biographer, essayist and critic. In the early 1870s she emerged as a pioneering female aes ...

German-born English poet, fiction writer, biographer, essayist and literary critic. *

Ford Madox Brown Ford Madox Brown (16 April 1821 – 6 October 1893) was a British painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painti ...

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jam ...

artist. * Peter Connelly (2006–2007), child abuse victim *Cora Henrietta Crippen, wife and victim of notorious murderer Dr. Crippen * Henry Croft, first "

Pearly King Pearly Kings and Queens, known as pearlies, are an organised charitable tradition of working-class culture in London, England. Henry Croft The practice of wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons is first associated with Henry C ...

". The grave marker is now in the crypt of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

. *William Crump, first Mayor of

. *

Margaret Fairchild Margaret Mary Fairchild (4 January 1911 – 28 April 1989), also known as Mary Teresa Sheppard, Miss Shepherd and M T Sheppard, was a British homeless woman who is the title character in the 2015 film ''The Lady in the Van'' by Alan Bennett in w ...

, subject of '' The Lady in the Van'' *Sir

Eugene Aynsley Goossens Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens (; 26 May 189313 June 1962) was an English conductor and composer. Biography He was born in Camden Town, London, the son of the Belgian conductor and violinist Eugène Goossens (''fils'', 1867–1958) and Annie ...

, violinist and conductor. *

Alice Herz-Sommer Alice Herz-Sommer, also known as Alice Herz (26 November 1903 – 23 February 2014), was a Prague-born Jewish classical pianist, music teacher, and supercentenarian who survived Theresienstadt concentration camp. She lived for 40 years in Israe ...

, classical pianist, Holocaust survivor and supercentenarian. *John Hickey, survivor of the

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to ...

, monument erected by admirers (among which Jerome K. Jerome). * Silas Hocking, prolific Victorian author. Writer of the million-selling novel ''

Her Benny ''Her Benny'' is a 1920 British silent romance film directed by A. V. Bramble and starring Sydney Wood, Babs Reynolds and Charles Buckmaster. It is adapted from the popular Victorian novel '' Her Benny'' (1879) by Silas K. Hocking. It foll ...

''. *

Ben Kinsella Ben Michael Kinsella (27 October 1991 – 29 June 2008) was a 16-year-old student at Holloway School who was stabbed to death in an attack by three men in June 2008 in Islington. The significant media attention around his murder (the 17th sta ...

, half-brother of actress Brooke Kinsella who was stabbed to death in 2008. His murder prompted changes in approaches towards sentencing for knife crime in Britain. * John Baptista De Manio, aviation pioneer, lost his life whilst flying at Lisbon, 13th. June 1913, aged 39 years. *Manzi monument by Francesco Nagni: Two bronze angels rising from the grave lifting a man in a neatly buttoned shirt *

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 wit ...

, classical violinist and Indo-jazz fusion pioneer composer and bandleader. *

Alfred Mond Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, PC, FRS, DL (23 October 1868 – 27 December 1930), known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician. In his later life he became an active Zio ...

, director of ICI, Liberal MP and

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

. Son of Ludwig Mond (below). * Julian Mond, English industrialist, in the family mausoleum * Ludwig Mond, wealthy industrialist and humanitarian, whose family built a large mausoleum for him. *

Tiverton Preedy Tiverton Preedy (22 January 1863 – 26 April 1928) was an English clergyman who worked in Yorkshire and London from 1887 until his death, where he was noted for his work with the poor. He was particularly interested in the use of sport within ...

, clergyman and founder of

Barnsley Football Club Barnsley Football Club is a professional football club based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in . Nicknamed "the Tykes", they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Preedy and moved into Oakwell stadium the following yea ...

. * George Price, American geneticist. * George Cuvier "The Boy" Spencer, who introduced an early form of bicycle known as the

velocipede A velocipede () is a human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle. The term was probably first coined by Karl von Drais in French as ''vélocipède'' for the French translation ...

to England. * Percival "Percy" Spencer, ''Aeronaut,'' whose memorial originally featured a stone

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

. Nephew of George Spencer (above). * James Hurst Stead Well known Vaudeville artist of the mid 1800s singer of comedic songs, most notably 'The Perfect Cure' during which he would jump on the spot up to 400 times. *

Olli Wisdom Oliver John Wisdom (8 March 1958 – 23 August 2021) was a British Goa and psy trance musician, and clothing producer, who lived in London. From the 1990s he recorded under the name Space Tribe. Early life and education Olli Wisdom was the e ...

(1958–2021), musician and DJ

Reburials from London churchyards

* St Pancras Old Church *

St Mary's Church, Islington The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the historic parish church of Islington, in the Church of England Diocese of London. The present parish is a compact area centered on Upper Street between Angel and Highbury Corner, bounded to the west by Live ...

St Luke Old Street St Luke's is a historic Anglican church building in central London, and in the London Borough of Islington. It served as a parish church from 1733 to 1959. It was designed by John James and Nicholas Hawksmoor, and is a Grade I listed building. ...

Belarusian community burials

Being close to the Belarusian community centre in North Finchley, including the

Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum (Belarusian: ; also referred to as Skaryna Library and ''Skarynaŭka'') in north London, England, is the only library outside Belarus to collect exclusively in the field of Belarusian studies. It wa ...

and the Church of St Cyril of Turau, St Pancras and Islington Cemetery has become the burial place for a number of exiled

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian Catholic priests and notable members of the Belarusian British community, including: * Bishop

Ceslaus Sipovich Ceslaus Sipovich ( be, Чэслаў Сіповіч, Łacinka: Česłaǔ Sipovič) (December 8, 1914 – October 4, 1981) was a bishop of the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church and a notable Belarusian émigré social and religious leader. Early ...

* Archimandrite

Leo Garoshka Archimandrite Leo Haroshka, MIC (born Leŭ Jurjevič Haroška, be, Леў Юр’евіч Гарошка, russian: Лев Юрьевич Горошко; 26 February 1911, the village of Traščycy, Hrodna Province, Russian Empire (nowadays Ka ...

* Fr.

Jazep Hermanovich Fr. Jazep Hermanovich MIC (also Yazep Germanovich, Belarusian Latin alphabet: Jazep Hermanovič; be, Язэп Гэрмановіч (sometimes also spelled Германовіч), pl, Józef Hermanowicz, 4 March 1890 - 26 December 1978) was a Bel ...

* Fr. Alexander Nadson * Paval Navara * Several leaders and activists of the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain

Ecology

The cemetery has areas of neutral open grassland,

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

and ancient woodland. It is a Site of Borough Importance for Nature Conservation, Grade II.

Environmental management

The

London Ecology Unit The London Ecology Unit (LEU) provided advice to London boroughs on nature conservation issues between 1986 and 2000. It published a series of handbooks, some on specific conservation issues, and some which gave detailed descriptions of Sites of Im ...

has advised the owners on management aimed to conserve natural features, whilst recognising the primary use of the cemetery as a burial ground. In recent years, there has been a policy of informed indifference to areas that are not in active use for burials. The result has been a proliferation of natural wildlife. Large tracts of scrub and secondary woodland have been allowed to develop on former burial plots, supplementing the original plantings, and producing an exceptionally diverse habitat.

Flora

This mixed secondary woodland consists largely of

sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the ancient Greek ' (''sūkomoros'') meaning "fig-mulberry". Species of trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplata ...

and

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

, with much

pedunculate oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...

. Some exotic ornamental trees have been introduced from time to time, including avenues of

limes Limes may refer to: * the plural form of lime (disambiguation) Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a ...

and horse chestnuts,

Lawson's cypress ''Chamaecyparis lawsoniana'', known as Port Orford cedar or Lawson cypress, is a species of conifer in the genus '' Chamaecyparis'', family Cupressaceae. It is native to Oregon and northwestern California, and grows from sea level up to in the ...

, various

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

and monkey-puzzle. Holly and bramble woodland flora grows beneath the trees and alongside paths, including bluebells,

pignut Hognut or pignut can mean any of a number of unrelated plants: * ''Bunium bulbocastanum'' (black cumin) or ''Conopodium majus'' (kippernut) of the Apiaceae * rushpeas, particularly '' Hoffmannseggia glauca'' (Indian rushpea) and '' Hoffmannseggia ...

goldilocks buttercup ''Ranunculus auricomus'', known as goldilocks buttercup or Greenland buttercup, is a perennial species of buttercup native to Eurasia. It is a calcicole typically found in moist woods and at the margins of woods. It is apomictic, and several hu ...

, cuckoo flower,

bugle The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure. History The bugle developed from early musical or communication ...

, and wild strawberry. These have spread from the adjacent woodland, or survived from the cemetery's prior existence as Horseshoe Farm. In the north-east corner of the cemetery, the Strawberry Vale Brook,

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdo ...

ed for most of its length, emerges into an open course.

Wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

habitats here contain mature

white willow ''Salix alba'', the white willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...

, rushes,

reedmace ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

marsh thistle ''Cirsium palustre'', the marsh thistle or European swamp thistle, is a herbaceous biennial (or often perennial) flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. ''Cirsium palustre'' is a tall thistle which reaches up to in height. The strong stems ha ...

, pendulous sedge, and

great willowherb ''Epilobium hirsutum'' is a flowering plant belonging to the willowherb genus ''Epilobium'' in the family Onagraceae. It is commonly known as the great willowherb, great hairy willowherb or hairy willowherb. Local names include codlins-and-crea ...

Fauna

Birds include

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

and

great spotted woodpecker The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acro ...

treecreeper The treecreepers are a family, Certhiidae, of small passerine birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere and sub-Saharan Africa. The family contains eleven species in two genera, '' Certhia'' and '' Salpornis''. Their plumage ...

and

goldcrest The goldcrest (''Regulus regulus'') is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colourful golden crest feathers, as well as being called the "king of the birds" in European folklore, gives rise to its English and scientific ...

and

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...

Muntjac deer Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

are frequent visitors.

References

External links

*
Islington and St Pancras Cemetery on the ICCS websiteCamden Council's site on St Pancras Cemetery

Commonwealth War Graves Commission site on St Pancras CemeterySt Pancras and Islington Cemetery and Crematorium, London Gardens Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Pancras And Islington Cemetery Cemeteries in London Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Barnet Grade II listed monuments and memorials Nature reserves in the London Borough of Barnet Religion in the London Borough of Barnet Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Barnet Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England St Pancras, London